Pages

Wednesday, June 11, 2014

New Zine on the block! Slam Tilt!

Last Fall, I got a really charming email from Jeremy Wilson from Australia. He took the time out of his day to tell me how much he enjoyed DTZ, and how it really fired him up to make his own zine! So cool! I was so pumped to see what he came up with! Then, two weeks ago, I got another email from Jeremy telling me that the zine was done! I got it in the mail this week, and am absolutely loving it.

First of all, look at this amazing risograph cover! The zine is really smartly laid out, and has a great variety of articles. The thing that resonates with me the most about this zine is that Jeremy goes out to interview not only people that are directly involved in the pinball community, but also artists that are influenced by pinball. One interview in the issue is with operator Mike Kalinowski (who also runs homepin.com). In this article, Mike and Jeremy talk about pinball maintenance, and some of the custom electronics and parts that Mike has invented.

There are a number of artists interviewed about their work, and how pinball intersects it. The interview with Justice Yeldham, the stage name of sound artist Lucas Abela was the most interesting to me. Abela has dome some really fascinating stuff with records and styluses, but has also done some interesting installation pieces that draw inspiration from pinball machines. Check out this first one, Pinball Pianola, where the keys of the pianola control a plethora of flippers, which send the ball at the strings of the pianola.

LOOK AT THIS MONSTER! I've seen dual-headed pinball machines (like Joust), and I have seen a custom three-headed machine, but I have never seen anything like Balls for Cthulhu. Five heads? Triangular playfields that are lined with guitars?! So cool. In the interview, Abela shows that he's not only a master of sound, but also has a great understanding of electronics. He explains that his custom machines have so many flippers that he had to figure out a way to deliver more power to individual flippers.

There's a tips and tricks section, as well as a guide of where to play in Australia. A MUST HAVE for the pinball player down under! There's some great illustrations throughout, by a plethora of artists like Kyle Fernandes, Imogen Rene Rose, and Sanchez.

All-in-all, this is a great zine! I remember when Alec and I had that moment where we looked at each other and decided that we need to write a zine. Getting to see that in someone else, and then see the tremendous results, warms my heart! I've been corresponding with Jeremy, and he has indicated that he might do another issue! Fingers crossed!!!